History of the NYPD

     New York City is one of the populated areas in the United States of America. If this city did not have the NYPD (New York City Police Department) to protect and serve its citizens, New York would not be a very safe place to live. The creation of the NYPD allowed the city to grow and prosper into the metropolis it is today by creating a safe environment during the Gilded Era.

Law enforcement first began in New York City while it was still known as Fort Amsterdam.

     Law enforcement in New York City existed long before the NYPD with a lawman known as the schout-fiscal (or literally "sheriff-attorney"). This type of lawman first existed in 1625 when New York City was still a Dutch fort known as Fort Amsterdam. The schout-fiscal would patrol the grounds of the fort settling minor disputes, keeping the general peace, and warning colonists if fires broke out at night. All throughout the rest of the 17th and 18th centuries, this sort of enforcement kept the peace in the city until it simply became too big for a few to patrol. Then the city felt the need for a true police force.
     The law enforcement in New York City was beginning to gain poor reputation as their responsibilities grew with the rate of the city's increase. The murder of Mary Roger's in 1841 was so poorly handled by the law enforcement at the time that it gave the press good reason to depict the existing law enforcement with an image of unreliability and disorganization. Although four years later, law enforcement in New York City would be reshaped entirely. When High Constable Jacob Hayes retired in 1845, the governor of New York granted Mayor William Havemeyer permission for the creation of a professional police force. Eight-hundred men became the first police force in New York City under the leadership of the first Chief of Police, George W. Matsell on May 13, 1845 with the city divided into three districts. The brand new NYPD began patrolling the streets of the city in July of 1845.
     The NYPD gave all sorts of security to the citizens of New York City. Along with their traditional law enforcement duties the NYPD was crucial during times of conflict in the 19th century. The NYPD showed great strength when it suppressed Civil War draft riots in the 1860s and especially during the Orange Riot in 1871. In fact the NYPD's first official motto came as a direct result of thanks from the citizens when the department received a Flag of Honor in 1872. Written on the Flag of Honor was written "Faithful Unto Death" which is still an official motto of the NYPD today.

 

19th Century Police poster with NYPD motto "Faithful Unto Death."

     The NYPD wasn't always so great though. Even the police had their fair share in corruption. Tammany Hall in New York City began its political corruption in the 1870s and even had a large impact on corruption in the police department. Tammany Hall contributed to this corruption by bribing police officials to overlook illegal liquor sales, fraud, and even ballot-box stuffing at police-manned polls. The police department also was growing lazy on its patrolling duties. All of this corruption and laziness would quickly be brought to a close with the arrival of "Teddy" himself, Theodore Roosevelt.
     Theodore Roosevelt became the President of the New York City Police Commission in 1895. As police commissioner Roosevelt set goals to end corruption in the city as a whole, but he only made a true difference in the department's corruption. Roosevelt quickly gained the public's favor when he himself would go on nighttime patrol's on the city to make sure police officers were doing their jobs. Roosevelt found many policemen acting lazy and ignoring their duties on these patrols and gradually renewed the professional reputation of the department. Roosevelt also gained the public's favor by enforcing laws that had been widely ignored beforehand such as closing beer halls on Sundays. Roosevelt was a fantastic leader within the NYPD which was revealed in William Andrew's research into the NYPD's history division where he found a record describing Theodore Roosevelt as "an iron-willed leader of unimpeachable honesty, (who) brought a reforming zeal to the New York City Police Commission in 1895." After Theodore Roosevelt left the NYPD, the force would continue its professional patterns to this present day and make multiple advancements in criminology that would contribute to the safety of the city as a whole.

Teddy Roosevelt was a strict leader of the Board of NYC Police Commissioners.

    Police officers first began carrying guns shortly before Roosevelt's arrival in 1887. Shortly after he became President of the commission however, a school of Police Pistol Practice opened in 1895 and practices officially started on December 30, 1895. On June 3, 1896 the Police Board agreed that a .32 caliber, double-action, 4 in. barrel Colt revolver would become the first standard side-arm among the NYPD. The introduction of a standard side-arm in the force greatly increased the level of responsibility among the officers in keeping the city safe and many new standards in safety had to be introduced over the next few years. In 1901 the board changed the side-arm rule to "each, member of the patrol force shall be armed on duty with a revolving pistol of .38 caliber with the officer's shield number stamped onto the pistol." In 1906 finger-printing became a tool of the force when Commissioner McAdoo sent Det. Sgt. Joseph Faurot to London in order to gain information on the process of finger-printing. The first case to be solved using finger-printing technology was in 1908. Accurate crime statistics did not exist within the city before the 1960s but the trend as these of advancements in criminology were introduced has shown a dramatic decrease in crime rates. Even in the beginning of the 21st century when New York is one of the most populated cities, the NYPD continues to enforce the city "Faithful Unto Death" and keeps the citizens safe so they can go about their daily lives with a sense of security.


Sources: 
Wikipedia
Shmoop
NYPD Recruit
U-S History.com
NYC.gov
BJ Whalen article

Faces of America and a "Nation of Immigrants"

While watching "Faces of America," it became apparent to me how there is no one in North America whose ancestry does not compose of at least one immigrant. I've heard people talk about their "Native American" ancestry and how they might be 1/32nd Cherokee or something along those lines, but in this present time there must be an extremely small number of pure Native Americans left (if any at all). While watching the various celebrities throughout the show gasp and say "Wow!" as they saw characteristics of their family tree, I questioned what might surprise me in my family tree. Perhaps their are family members in my background who did great things, or maybe I'm a long-forgotten descendant of one of the founding fathers. Maybe someday I'll try and figure out just where my true roots are.

What do you think it means to be a "nation of immigrants"? Think about the characteristics of people who decided to leave a homeland to successfully make a life somewhere else and take on a whole new cultural identity! Ask yourself how those traits may have shaped America, and what we see as American culture. Do you feel very aware of your connection to ancestors like the 19th century immigrants you've read about, and watched in the film? (Why or why not?)

A: I think being a "nation of immigrants" means that the United States is a nation that defines itself by its diversity of people from all around the Earth who earned the feeling of accomplishment by finally arriving in the United States. The majority of immigrants who came to the United States spent an exorbitant amount of their lives preparing and saving money to leave their homelands to find a fresh start. Once they had made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean and laid their eyes on Ellis Island, one can only imagine how proud they must have been to have successfully fulfilled their goals of arriving in the land of opportunity. These emotions of pride and accomplishment created the tone in American culture all throughout the country's history. One of the most common slogans around the country is "Proud to be an American." Slogans like this one came to be because of the pride felt by immigrants to have made a new life. Therefore citizens of the United States have a consistent feeling of national pride all across the nation. 
     Personally I probably don't feel as connected to my ancestors as I should. I know very little about who exactly my ancestors were or even where exactly they came from. Honestly I never thought to spend the time trying to try and develop knowledge of my family tree. After watching "Faces of America" and seeing Stephen Colbert and Meryl Streep completely humbled by their origins though, I am now very curious to know more about my lineage. 

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/glimpses3/images/glimpses5.jpg

The Success Story of John D. Rockefeller

  The early 19th century was the time to live for a big-businessman. If you were wise enough to take advantage of the lack of legal restrictions, buy out your competitors, and control your product from start to finish you could become a very wealthy individual; John D. Rockefeller was one such individual. John D. Rockefeller was the founder of the late-19th century Standard Oil Company. Through this company John D. Rockefeller became known as the "wealthiest man who ever lived," as well as a cutthroat magnate who dominated oil from the ground to the barrel.

     John D. Rockefeller was unique in his approach to business because he was one of the first business leaders to take advantage of both "horizontal" and "vertical" integration simultaneously. "Horizontal" integration is the idea of beating your competition in business by integrating their enterprise into your own. "Vertical" integration differs in that instead of buying out your competitors, you buyout the enterprises that process your product during the various stages of development. By integrating both "horizontal" and "vertical" integration Rockefeller was purchasing refineries, oil taps, and barreling warehouses all while monopolizing his competition who used those same companies he was purchasing. Nowadays the U.S. federal government has made laws to prevent Rockefeller's imperious approach to business. However Rockefeller was not bound by today's laws and dominated the oil industry from beginning to end.

      Standard Oil Company's success only lasted throughout Rockefeller's life though. The company quickly begin to suffer only a few years after Rockefeller's death. Without the guidance of their genius founder, the company rapidly declined until it's failure in 1917. 

http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4c6d47bc7f8b9ae57d700d00/john-d-rockefeller-1885.jpg

Native American Film Depictions

     Native Americans have been a key to success in the history of American cinema. Whether it's the Native American's savagery, alien customs , or their utterly different lifestyle the Native Americans have always been a source of attraction for the film industry's audience. However despite their popularity, Native Americans have been falsely portrayed for as long as they have been seen in the movies. Specifically family films have always steered towards the "savage" or "red-skinned" Native American depiction versus the more peaceful and truer version of Native Americans.

Disney's Pocahontas

      One of the most popular animated family films is Disney's Pocahontas. Pocahontas was an actual Native American who married a man by the name of John Smith just the same as in Disney's cartoon. Disney's version is far from the truth specifically in his depiction of the Native Americans. In the photo above you can clearly see Pocahontas as a beautiful woman with long black hair. In reality Pocahontas was a very young girl when she was married to John Smith. But in order to entertain his audience, Disney decided to depict Pocahontas around the same age as Smith so as not to bring about any controversy in his "children's film." Pocahontas also is seen with a raccoon sitting on her back in this photo. Obviously Native Americans were not "friends" with animals as they are seen in the movie. Instead Native Americans were appreciated for their relationships with animals in a different way. Native Americans were very efficient in their use of animals for hides, meat, tools, and other things. Almost nothing went to waste when Native Americans hunted animals. The honest truth is that Pocahontas' raccoon probably wouldn't have been smiling on her back but perhaps a warm hat instead.

Disney's Peter Pan

     Peter Pan was a favorite among Disney's followers for it's grand adventure and rebellious characters. These characteristics of misbehavior carried over into other characters all throughout the film, but with the Native Americans especially. First of all the depiction of the Native American chieftain above is an entirely incorrect portrayal. Chieftains were not defined by their bullhorns, feathered hats, and extravagant blue pants. Instead any of the leaders in a Native American tribe blended into the rest of the tribe members very inconspicuously. The Native American chieftain in Peter Pan is also a very grumpy man and does not have a particularly friendly visage. He appears to be very mean and assertive towards Peter Pan in trying to show superiority. While some Native Americans weren't very friendly with settlers, they weren't friendly because the settlers had given them reason to be so. When Joseph Banks first set foot in Tahiti, the local Tahitians weren't vicious or savage towards him. Instead the natives and the crew members of the ship developed a bartering system, learned one another's language, and grew to know one another very dearly. Native Americans were very similar to the Tahitians in this way. They were not initially savage and "grumpy" as this chieftain appears to be.

Disney's Brother Bear

     While some of the older Disney film's had very incorrect depictions of it's Native American characters, the newer Disney movies have turned out to be much more tolerant of it's characters origins. Brother Bear is a Disney movie about a young Inuit by the name of Kenai. The story consists of Kenai transforming into a bear and carrying on a journey with a bear cub back to his tribe. While animal transformation never actually occurred towards Native Americans, themes of Animism are very prevalent throughout the film. Animism is the belief of non-human "spiritual beings" that are present within all of one's surroundings. Animism was a common belief throughout Native American tribes that contributed to the association of Native American's to a close bond with nature. Whether there are spiritual beings within the rivers, rocks, trees, and lakes of the world is up to you but the Native Americans firmly respected nature in this way. Brother Bear is also one of the few cartoon movies which depicts it's Native American characters accurately. In this photo from the film you can clearly see the Inuits with completely natural clothing they most likely made themselves, but it lacks the incorrect patterns and extravagant features of the other incorrect portrayals in film. (Almost done).


Sources:
Cultural Critique
Indian Movies
Under-Representation of Native Americans
Animism (2)

PUPPY!!!!!

This is a blog about U.S. History, but I thought I'd post a cute puppy first.